按照耗散结构理论，人类与其所创造的装备在本质上是有共性的，在与疾病和与故障的斗争方面也有很多相同或相近之处。在系统论的指导下，将医学科学理论和方法用于装备的故障诊断、预测和防治，有可能逐步形成用工程手段来防治故障的专门用于装备的“医学”——“装备医工程”（PME， plant medicine engineering）；讨论了疾病和故障成因及其诊断、病因和故障机理的深层规律、治愈和自愈、治标和治本等共性问题，并就汲取中医的黑箱法和西医白箱法的精髓，创建医工程的水晶箱法进行了探讨；应用上述理论，对当前设备诊断技术研究的若干误区进行了分析。

According to the dissipative structure theory, human has much in common with man-made machine, and there is much in resemblance between disease healing of human and fault overcoming of machine. Under the light of the systemics, by introducing the methodology of medical science into the field of machine fault diagnosis, prediction and prevention, it is possible to build a new theory of PME (Plant Medicine Engineering) to prevent and eliminate faults of machine by engineering means. Some common issues, such as the forming of diseases and faults, how to diagnose those diseases and faults, the deep rule concerning the causes and mechanisms of faults and diseases, comparison between curing and self-healing, and between the dealing of symptoms and that of initial causes, etc. , were discussed in this paper. A novel “crystal box approach” of PME, which is based on the piths of both “black-box approach” of traditional Chinese medical theory and uwhite-box approach^ of modern west medical science, was put forth. Lastly, from the view point df PME, some pitfalls in current studies about fault diagnosis are discussed.